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The Peel Regional Police officer who asked Jermaine Carby for his identification minutes before the Brampton man was shot dead by police wanted Carby’s name and date of birth because he was carding him, a coroner’s inquest heard Thursday.

During lengthy and sometimes tense questioning by Faisal Mirza, the lawyer representing Carby’s family, Const. Jason Senechal admitted he had no investigative reason to ask Carby for his personal information.

Instead, Senechal was conducting a “street check” — also known as carding — to create a record of the interaction and put Carby’s information into a police database.

“I’ll grab his name, and I’ll do a PRP17,” Senechal said of his thinking at the time, referring to the form Peel police fill out when conducting a street check.

Senechal’s testimony answers, for the first time, a central question in the high-profile police shooting death on a busy Brampton street in September 2014: Why was Carby, a passenger in a car Senechal pulled over for a traffic stop, asked for his identification to begin with?

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Passengers in a car stopped for a traffic infraction — this vehicle's licence plate was said to be obscured and its headlights were out — are not required to provide personal information to police. Under questioning, Senechal agreed he was not seeking a suspect who fit Carby’s description, and had no reason to believe the car he was in was connected to a crime. The street check was “a dominant reason” why he asked for Carby’s information, Senechal said.

The street check set off a fatal chain of events: Senechal ran Carby’s name through his in-car computer and discovered an outstanding warrant in British Columbia. When Senechal returned to the car and asked Carby about the warrant, he became defensive, pulled a knife and was shot by another officer on scene, the inquest heard.

That still-unnamed officer is expected to be identified and testify at the inquest Friday.

Testimony Thursday delved into the possible role racial profiling might have played in Carby’s death. Three Peel officers took the stand at the coroner’s inquest, which is being held to examine Carby’s death in order to prevent future fatalities — though such inquests do not assign blame.

Senechal, who was accompanied by two security guards as he entered and exited the courtroom, denied that he carded Carby because he was black.

The officer said that, at the time of the shooting, he did not know about the controversy around carding and was unaware that some members Brampton’s black community felt unfairly targeted by the practice.

When asked by Mirza if he read or watched the news, Senechal said: “Honestly, no. I watch sports highlights.”

Ongoing carding investigations by Star since 2010 have shown that, in Toronto, the practice disproportionately affects black and brown men. According to six years of data obtained by the Star last year, black people in Brampton were three times more likely to be street checked by Peel police than white people.

Asked by Mirza if he personally lived in Peel region, Senechal declined to say, agreeing he felt some discomfort disclosing that information.

“So, you can understand why, when you asked an African-Canadian passenger in a vehicle for their name and their date of birth, while they are sitting there quietly, it might be offensive to them?”

After a long pause, Senechal replied that he could.

Const. Jason Vasquez, a Peel officer who arrived on scene shortly before the fatal shooting, also said he was unaware of concerns in the black community about street checks. Asked outside court about this response, Mirza said he believes officers serving in a multi-ethnic city have a responsibility to be in tune with these concerns.

“That’s part of the reason that we think the jury should be made aware of these issues, and hopefully they’ll make some recommendations in relation to training officers on those issues,” he said.

Senechal was also questioned about his response to health information displayed on the in-car computer when Senechal ran Carby’s name.

The computer showed Carby, 33, suffered from mental instability and had suicidal tendencies — the record would have been displayed on Senechal’s screen reading “***Mental Health***.”

“Subject attempted to disarm officer. Threatened suicide, wanted police to shoot him,” the record said, referring to an incident between Carby and Toronto police just one month before his death, which resulted in Carby being hospitalized.

Jurors heard Senechal returned to speak to Carby roughly 30 seconds after seeing Carby’s mental health history on his in-car screen. By then, two backup officers, including Vasquez, had arrived on scene.

Since there was no urgency to speak to Carby — who was still compliant and calm in the car — Mirza asked Senechal why he didn’t make a plan with his colleagues, considering the high risk Carby posed to himself and others.

“You didn’t sit and take five minutes to discuss with them the plan of approach in relation to Mr. Carby, correct?

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